After announcing an intent to work with Apple over payments processing in China, Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai shared further details over the discussions currently underway between both companies. Talking to the Wall Street Journal, Tsai said that Alipay providing the back-end services for Apple Pay in China would be the "obvious possibility." According to Tsai:
If people want to use Apple Pay in China, Apple would have certain restrictions and limitations on operating payment businesses in China. So we are thinking whether there is any opportunity for us to work together where Apple Pay and Alipay can somehow work together in China.
The senior executive touched upon the details that have to be worked out between the two companies:
There's a regulatory component. How can we help Apple on the regulatory side, because Alipay has the license to operate a payment business in China. There's also an operational component. If you are talking about Alipay as the back-end operation to support the front-end Apple Pay, how do the two systems work?
At the end of the day, you are funding the payment transactions from the Alipay account through Apple Pay, so that flow of money has to be very smooth. And there's a lot of technology involved.
Tsai also talked about the part Ant Financial would play in the process, as well as Alibaba's plans for the US market, future sustainability and more. Head to the link below to read the full interview.
Source: The Wall Street Journal